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Thursday, April 9, 2009

Rhubarb and Raspberry Gelato

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Have you ever had a tried and true recipe fail? It happened to me this week when an orange chiffon cake I absolutely adore, and have made dozens of times, collapsed as it cooled. That left me with a pound of redundant rhubarb that was meant for a sauce to accompany the cake. To avoid wasting it, I decided to use it in a simple recipe for gelato, or Italian ice cream. Now, just saying the "g" word is going to open a can of worms. There are many opinions as to what constitutes a true gelato. Some of you will see milk and gelatin in the ingredient list and say "no way." I hope you'll bear with me. It's important to realize that gelato appears in many guises and that the ingredients used to make it depend on local custom. Milk based gelato originated in northern Italy while its milk free counterpart, sorbetto, is a product of the warmer regions of southern Italy. Most gelato does not use gelatin. As it happens, the recipe I'm using today actually has it in the ingredient list. This recipe does not require the use of an ice cream freezer. If you wish to use one follow the manufacturer directions for freezing gelato or sorbet. This gelato is simple to make. My rhubarb was very pale so I added a container of raspberries to enhance the color of the puree. I'm not a fan of red food coloring but it could also be used to enhance color. I make the gelato the night before I plan to serve it. Gelato melts very quickly so plan accordingly.

Directions:1) Place rhubarb and water in a 2-quart saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Cover; simmer until rhubarb is tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and cool. Place in a blender jar with raspberries, lemon zest and juice and puree until smooth. Strain. Set aside.2) Place milk and corn syrup in a 2-quart saucepan. Warm over medium heat; do not allow to boil. Add softened gelatin and sugar and stir until sugar and gelatin is dissolved. Stir in the dry milk.3) Pour mixture into a large mixing bowl. Add the fruite puree and stir until combined. Transfer to an appropriate container and freeze. Partially thaw before serving. Yield: 5 to 6 cups.

Mary, what a treat. I miss the rhubarb I used to grow in Wisconsin..I have found out that gelatin is used a lot in Europe. We have a friend who in his younger years was a master pastry chef in Germany. He taught me his Black Forest Cherry Cake recipe and in order for the whipped cream to hold as a topping, he added dissolved gelatin (in Germany he used the sheets of gelatin) and it amazingly worked beautifully. I thought it was a clever trick.

bookelf, keeping in mind that I'm not a formally trained cook here's my answer. The dry milk increases creaminess and helps prevent the formation of ice crystals which would spoil the texture of the gelato. I hope you'll visit with us often.

Lyle’s Golden Syrup (use in same quantity as corn syrup) -- Lyle’s Golden Syrup is widely available in the UK, but possibly harder to find in the United States. Decent sized supermarkets may stock it in the British section of the International aisles, I suspect.

Honey (use in same quantity as corn syrup) -- honey is quite a bit sweeter than corn syrup, but if the recipe doesn’t call for a lot of it, this may be an effective substitute.

Molasses (use in same quantity as corn syrup) -- molasses is darker, obviously, and also stronger in flavor. It’s also less sweet than corn syrup, so is probably your last resort.

If you’re baking something like cookies or bread, I’d suggest you try the honey substitute. Honey, like corn syrup, is hygroscopic. Hygroscopic substances attract water molecules from the air. What his means for baking is that cookies and bread baked with honey rather than sugar will tend to stay softer longer.

I'm so sorry the gelato didn't turn out that well for me. It leaves a terrible after-taste of the milk powder. I hope i understood right that dried milk=powdered milk:( it's really a shame because i got such lovely rhubarb and bright red raspberries. the texture is so silken but it's just that taste. I'll use up the gelato in smoothies. wonder what else could have gone wrong:(

Latha, I'm sorry this did not work for you. I can't imagine what went wrong. I made this two weeks ago and had no problem. I used 1/3 cup powdered milk and 2-1/4 cups bottled whole milk when I made mine. I'm surprised the rhubarb didn't mask the flavor of the small amount of milk powder used in the recipe. I'm glad you were able to use yours in smoothies. Blessings...Mary

Am I the only one who omits the powdered milk? I just leave it out the the fancy strikes me and don't really notice any difference beside the lack of powdered milk flavor. A possibility that I have not lately tried. When I was a kid my dad was on a Strict diet- no fat- so we made the powdered milk per the package with water, froze it for a while in the freezer, shipped it with a mixer til frothy and then added it to the ice cream mix. I don't remember a powdered milk taste....

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